Biggest (and Easiest) Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Solomon Thimothy - January 3, 2012

Marketing a business, small or large, is no easy task. It requires dedication, creative thinking, planning, retooling and much more. While there are many different opportunities to market and a variety of channels to do so, it’s important to stick to the basics before you start spending your marketing dollars.

Making sure that you have covered these topics will ensure a better yield on your marketing efforts.

Not Designating a BudgetA serious mistake that many small business owners is to not designate a budget. Regardless of the size of the budget, it’s important to know upfront how much can be allocated to marketing. Knowing this is important as a budget can help identify what types of marketing channels and platforms will yield a higher ROI.

Doing it All YourselfIf running a business wasn’t hard enough, adding the role of marketing team can only add to the stress – and may be a detriment to your overall marketing. Consider outsourcing your marketing to ensure that you have qualified experts focusing solely on your marketing needs.

Not Having a Clear Audience

While we’d like to think that everyone needs our services or products, it’s best to narrow in on a particular audience or group to market to. Your geographic area or other factors such as gender, age or lifestyle may determine this. Having a targeted audience will lead to a better conversion rate.

Having No MetricsWhen creating a marketing plan or campaign, it’s important to define clear metrics by which to measure the success of your campaign. Whether that means more accounts, more sales or more traffic, it’s critical to define these from the get go. Studying and analyzing data can also lead to profitable discoveries.

Having No Follow-up StrategyOn average, it takes more than one contact with a potential consumer before the sale happens. That’s exactly why companies use different vehicles to reach you again and again. It may have started with a visit to your website and an abandoned shopping cart. This may be followed by a friendly email about your cart – or a special shipping offer. For better results, create a multi-step, multi-channel strategy.

Not Analyzing Your MistakesPerhaps the most painful mistake to face is learning about why your marketing campaign failed. Painful as it may be, it’s paramount to future success. Understanding what caused your campaign to fail can lead to better campaigns that will yield the results you are looking for. In certain types of marketing, such as PPC advertising, doing AB testing and comparing results is important in producing high converting ads.
Marketing may seem like a simple task. However, it requires much more than motivation and passion. It requires diligence, strategy, persistence and most of all – patience. Avoid these basic pitfalls will ensure that your marketing is as successful as it can be.

If you have avoided marketing your business or don’t know where to start, our marketing specialists can help you create a strategic plan focused on measurable results. Contact OneIMS at 1-888-ONE-IMS-1 and speak to one of our marketing experts today!